I have a melty cheddar with smoked jalapenos culturing on my windowsill. I also made a meunster with smoked tomatoes (always a pattern here, having smoked things in the fridge are hard to not add into nearly everything..) and cooked the agar in water and added it back into the Vita-Mix since I've had issues setting...it seems super firm, yay.

In summary agar doesn't melt like carageenan, and requires additional liquid. For the meltable cheeses it is recommended to just leave out the carageenan, and use the cheese in a runnier non-sliceable state. I would think you could use agar if you prefer them sliceable but not meltable. However Miyoko says in the comments bit 'You can try with agar or just omit it as I mention in paragraph 3 of this post. I have some readers telling me that they used agar and the cheeses melted just fine. I don’t find it melts as well as carrageenan, but go for it.'

For aged cheeses you can use agar but the extra moisture will make them more....moist. More info and Instructions on how to do this are under 4.

yes, my carrageenan was more spendy than my agar and so using miyoko's advice, I save the carrageenan for the meltable cheeses. It seems to be working out so far. One tip I found super useful (for either one) is dissolving it completely in a small amount of boiling liquid prior to incorporating it into the cheese mixture. Can't remember if I read that here or on Miyoko's blog, but that's been a great help I wish I would have known from the get-go. That and don't overcook so that you end up with a gloopy oily mess.

I've been using agar solely since I ran out of carrageenan and it's been fine since I have been aiming for more 'set' cheeses but having never worked with carrageenan before this book, it really adds a nice, creamy melt vs. cheeses I've made before.

Hi! I joined the forum tonight so I could post in this thread, but I'm an avid user of vegan cookbooks in general so I suspect I will spend some time here. :) I just finished my first attempts at making cashew chevre. I made it both plain, and with lemon/peppercorns.

I had tried making rejuvelac a couple of months ago but it didn't go well, so I sat back for awhile before attempting again. I wasn't sure if my location (Houston TX) was not a good one for that sort of thing, but I'm pretty sure my second attempt worked! I decided to refrigerate it pretty quickly even though I was shy about tasting it to see if it was tart. It seemed...tartish, so I went with it. It was certainly getting some fizz and foam going on.

As for the cheese itself, I misunderstood the direction to "cover" the container and I sealed it tightly. I did open it a few times a day to check on it though. I honestly can't tell if it rose or developed air bubbles, because I had it spread pretty thin in a longish glass pan, and I didn't realize that it should expand or develop pockets. It might have...but I wasn't checking for it. It started to get a little darker on top and there was a faintly yeasty aroma. It didn't taste bad. Kind of mild and nice actually. So after about 28 hours I decided to see if I was content with it. It actually tastes pretty good, and though I am not sure if it settled completely well with me, I will try it again and see what I think in another day.

I'm really eager to get some xantham, agar and whatever else I need to make further attempts. Next time I'll be sure to culture it a little longer and not seal it air tight, but I'm still not sure at each step if it's going right. However the photos everyone is posting here are amazing, so I am inspired to keep trying :)

In summary agar doesn't melt like carageenan, and requires additional liquid. For the meltable cheeses it is recommended to just leave out the carageenan, and use the cheese in a runnier non-sliceable state. I would think you could use agar if you prefer them sliceable but not meltable. However Miyoko says in the comments bit 'You can try with agar or just omit it as I mention in paragraph 3 of this post. I have some readers telling me that they used agar and the cheeses melted just fine. I don’t find it melts as well as carrageenan, but go for it.'

For aged cheeses you can use agar but the extra moisture will make them more....moist. More info and Instructions on how to do this are under 4.

How do you store cheese? I understand from the book, they should be wrapped in plastic wrap, so it does not have any contact with air. I've put my cheese (basic cashew cheese and cashew chevre) on a plate and wrapped the cheese together with the plate, so there is some air between cheese and the plate. Do you think it is ok?

The pub cheddar is guhhhreat. The soft gruyere is pretty good too. Any suggestion on what to do with these besides just eat them on crackers?

I also made the meltable mozzarella, but left out the carrageenan instead of replacing with agar. They still formed balls in the ice bath, but they're pretty soft. Saving them for pizza sometime this weekend. The little bit I tasted was really good, just kind of fatty and bland and salty, like real mozzarella.

The pub cheddar is guhhhreat. The soft gruyere is pretty good too. Any suggestion on what to do with these besides just eat them on crackers?

I also made the meltable mozzarella, but left out the carrageenan instead of replacing with agar. They still formed balls in the ice bath, but they're pretty soft. Saving them for pizza sometime this weekend. The little bit I tasted was really good, just kind of fatty and bland and salty, like real mozzarella.

Turn the Gruyere into fondue...Miyokos recipe in the book is really good...add a little garlic, nutmeg and a splash of kirsch if you have it. Hard not to eat the whole pot. ;)

Pub Cheddar- stir some into mashed potatoes, add some non-dairy milk/or beer, and make cheddar beer soup! I added some carmelized onions and crunchy croutons to finish it off.

The pub cheddar is guhhhreat. The soft gruyere is pretty good too. Any suggestion on what to do with these besides just eat them on crackers?

I also made the meltable mozzarella, but left out the carrageenan instead of replacing with agar. They still formed balls in the ice bath, but they're pretty soft. Saving them for pizza sometime this weekend. The little bit I tasted was really good, just kind of fatty and bland and salty, like real mozzarella.

Turn the Gruyere into fondue...Miyokos recipe in the book is really good...add a little garlic, nutmeg and a splash of kirsch if you have it. Hard not to eat the whole pot. ;)

Pub Cheddar- stir some into mashed potatoes, add some non-dairy milk/or beer, and make cheddar beer soup! I added some carmelized onions and crunchy croutons to finish it off.

Does anyone else find it hard not to eat all the Gouda while it's air drying, nom.

Thankfully I made 2 molds, in two 6 inch cake pans, and whilst one is quickly being eaten (before the 4-5 day culturing time), the other is being saved for a cheese and wine evening we're having on Sunday.

Some people have had a hard time with moss powder (and I think they might not be the same thing). I've also read in this thread somewhere that people have noticed the taste of the carrageenan in their cheeses, which of course you don't want. I unfortunately don't recall the brands they ordered, but I ordered the Kappa carrageenan from Modernist Pantry and am happy with it. (If you don't want to order from MP, maybe just peruse the earlier posts in this thread to find the brands people have warned against.)

I made the sharp cheddar, only I didn't do the last (agar) step, since i'm fine with it being in more of a "spread" state. Tastes spot on! Excited to put this in mac 'n cheese :) I want to try the parmesan next!

I made cheesecake with the cream cheese last week. It was delish. The cream cheese was lovely and tangy. I cultivated it in my slow cooker set on warm, I took the temperature from within and it got to 115. So a little warmer than should be, so I kept it on for 1 hour then turned it off for 30 mins before turning it on again.

The Gouda finally finished air-drying for 5 days and is now wrapped in parchment paper in the fridge. Tastes real good with crackers. Yum!